Around 6–7 years ago, the concept of startup businesses was just becoming recognized in Thailand. As the startup culture grew, people gradually became aware of such ideas as a ‘Lean Startup’ and ‘Design Thinking’. However, as times have changed, evolved and grown, so to have startups. Thus, the first concepts that arose did not stop with the idea of being ‘lean’, nor did the ‘design thinking’ way of operating stop there. These have both been brought forward into the modern market and are now part of the ‘scale up’ era, or the era of business expansion. The expansion strategy for startups does not follow the same methodical steps as regular business expansion but rather involves huge leaps forward over a short space of time, from one to ten, from ten to one hundred, and from a hundred to a hundred thousand.
The fact that startup companies have begun to operate at the highly popular scale up level has not been a simple process as each company has been required to prove itself and strategize intelligently. The Startup Scale Up Series is therefore providing companies with the best kept secrets and strategies from the top 10 leading startups under the guidance of AIS The Start Up. The companies will share their stories and the ideas that have enabled them to progress from being small businesses to becoming new and exciting operators on the international stage, whether through joint investment ventures with foreign investors or via their own progression into new markets.
This episode will focus on StockRadars, a startup established by ‘Max’ Teerachart Kortrakul who set up StockRadars as a retail investment business. The outstanding feature of StockRadars is its simple-to-understand analysis of complicated investment markets, meaning that anyone can access detailed stock market information. Users can then use this simply-laid-out information to help them make a decision about where they should invest on the stock market. The business also offers a function whereby users can buy and sell stocks in real time through mobile applications that are available to both iOS and Android users.
The quality of StockRadars is underpinned by the numerous awards it has received both domestically and abroad. For example, the company was selected as one of the companies for ‘AIS The StartUp, The Finalist’ in 2014, the same year that it won the ‘Best Financial Software Asia Pacific ICT Award’ on the international stage.
We’ve been lucky enough to have been working closely with StockRadars over the years and have had deep, meaningful conversations with ‘Max’ himself about the business. Additionally, we’ve been speaking to ‘Chat’ (Mr. Thanachat Tangsriwong), Chief Representative of the Bangkok Office for CyberAgent Ventures, one of the major investors from Japan who saw the scaling opportunity that StockRadars presented and so decided to engage in a joint venture with the company at end of 2014. The scaling strategies of these two businessmen are interesting because, on the surface, they may seem prosaic. However, they are packed full of both businessmen’s methods and ideas. We have therefore grouped together the strategies that have seen StockRadars soar so high with regard to its customer expansion for our Startup Scale Up Series Ep.1 as follows:
Keep searching for that diamond mine even if right now you may only be finding dirt
Identify a market that is of high value but which has been so far largely overlooked by other businesses. Try to find a diamond mine beneath the surface where others have only seen dirt and soil. Thailand has huge stock market potential which is growing year on year and it also contains large numbers of minor and online investors. This is was the diamond mine for StockRadars.
Look into the distance while perched on the shoulders of giants
StockRadars has teamed up with various industry market leaders using the ‘Partner Model’, including AIS, LINE and other broker companies, in order to create a combined customer base in those industries. Perching on the shoulders of these giants has helped StockRadars build its own vision that is much more ambitious than if it were walking its own path. Furthermore, carefully selecting which industry giants to partner up with has enabled the company to view businesses from numerous different angles and this has also given StockRadars a 360 degree viewpoint of the business environment.
Sales channels are magical doors through which customers can enter our business
StockRadars has increased its payment channels to provide the utmost convenience for its customers through mobile phone billing. This means that the company has the potential to reach a massive customer base throughout Thailand.
Technology is for sharing
StockRadars worked alongside LINE as one of its ‘Technology Partners’ to create a LINE Financial Official Account which currently has almost 5 million followers in Thailand. This gives a clear guarantee that StockRadars has the technology in place to ensure worry-free business growth.
If I can help everyone wins, then I win too
Creating goals for every department to strive for is just one of StockRadar’s philosophies. Every step that Max plans out has to have at least 3 clear goals, including a partnership based goal, a customer based goal and a personal goal. It is not in human nature to enjoy seeing others lose. However, everyone wants to win. Hence, if we can operate in a way whereby we and others win at the same time, this would be the greatest win for everyone.
Proceed with care
Partnering with AIS and LINE does not limit the company’s opportunities to Thailand because both companies can act as a crucial bridge that StockRadars can cross to reach into the international stage. AIS itself has a partnership with the Singtel Group, a company that has a customer base of over 700 million people around the world, while LINE has a huge number of users across the world too. Nevertheless, the way StockRadars reaches out to an international customer base needs to be carefully thought through, without being over-ambitious and looking to expand into Asian countries which already have similar businesses operating there. Setting itself up as another alternative in Asia is therefore not of great importance to Max but he is taking the time to build awareness of his company within the ASEAN region because there are still no brokers operating at the level to which StockRadars can here.
Converse and network to find the truth
Max uses product fairs as a channel into potential foreign markets as they provide him with the opportunity to speak with nationals of those countries. These conversations provide Max with comments and observations that allow him to understand whether or not the people from those countries are interested in what his company has to offer. At the moment, StockRadars has begun expanding into Indonesia with plans to look into the Singaporean market next.
Their country, their people
One consequence of international expansion is that StockRadars is also required to expand its team. Thus, Max decided to select natives of those countries who understand its societal aspects, behavioral tendencies and spending habits to help him expand the business into that country successfully. This can be carried out in 2 main forms: employing directly such as through a branch of StockRadars located in that country or finding business partners that already have access to assets in the chosen country. Max chose to utilize both methods for his own company’s expansion.
Scale Up
Planning should be carried out with clear strategies in mind, including identifying your business’ current status and where you see the business in the future, as well as how this will be achieved and why that direction was chosen over others.
Over the 9 episodes of the Startup Scale up Series, we will be presenting you with the secrets and strategies that have been successfully utilized by the 9 Startups from AIS The Startup. Additionally, if any business developers would like to share stories of their scaling success, they can apply to present their findings and ideas through AIS The Startup on our website at www.ais.th/thestartup from today onwards.
